Loading and unloading conveyor

ABSTRACT

A loading-unloading conveyor boom is vertically adjustable with a ramp pivotally attached at one end that can be independently tilted up or down. The ramp has a set of movable wedge-shaped finger members for moving freight from its wedge-shaped finger tips to the conveyor boom or vice-versa. All motions of the loading-unloading conveyor boom are controlled by an operator working in the vicinity of the ramp. The loading-unloading boom is of fixed length, and is pivoted by a motorized cart that also moves an air-bearing supported platform on which a freight carrier or container rests, backward or forward and sideways left or right.

United States Patent 1 91 Weir 1 1 LOADING AND UNLOADING CONVEYOR [75]Inventor: Stanley M. Weir, Santa Clara, Calif.

[73] Assignee: FMC Corporation, San Jose, Calif.

[22] Filed: May 28, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 147,921

Related U.S. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 20,711, March18, 1970, Pat.

521 U.S. Cl. ..214/3s B, 198/106, 198/219, 214/91 5 Int. Cl ..B65g 67/02[58] Field ot'Search...214/38 R, 38 B, 38 BA, 38 BB, 214/38 C, 38 D;198/106, 219

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,513,991 5/1970 McWilliams.'...214/41X 3,454,173 7/1969 Martin ..214/38C 1 Feb. 6, 1973 PrimaryExaminerRobert G. Sheridan Atl0rneyF, W. Anderson, C. E. Tripp and J. F.Verhoeven [57] ABSTRACT A loading-unloading conveyor boom is verticallyadjustable with a ramp pivotally attached at one end that can beindependently tilted up or down. The ramp has a set of movablewedge-shaped finger members for moving freight from its wedge-shapedfinger tips to the conveyor boom or vice-versa. All motions of theloading-unloading conveyor boom are controlled by an operator working inthe vicinity of the ramp. The loading-unloading boom is of fixed length,and is pivoted by a motorized cart that also moves an airbearingsupported platform on which a freight carrier or container rests,backward or forward and sideways left or right.

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SHEET 0F 4 F'IG E LOADING AND UNLOADING CONVEYOR This application is adivision of application Ser. No. 20,711 filed Mar. 18, 1970, now US Pat.No. 3,613,910.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to anautomatic terminal for loading, unloading and moving shipments from onefreight container to another.

In a typical conventional terminal, such as a truck terminal, articlesare manually unloaded from inbound trucks onto pushcarts. If an articleis too heavy to manually lift, fork-trucks are used. Loaded carts aremanually pushed to the appropriate terminal door for load-out or, wheretowlines are installed for transporting carts, carts are manually hookedonto and removed from the towline.

Some problems associated with unloading and loading trucks using cartsare:

1. Carts sometimes cannot be positioned near article pick-up andput-down points because large, long and/or heavy articles are on thefloor. Dockmen must therefore carry articles across large heavy piecesto and from push-carts to clear out top'off freight before a fork-truckcan get in and move big articles out of the way;

. A fork-truck is not always handy when needed to move a large or heavypiece and a dockman may need to wait until one arrives before resumingload or unload operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To reduce cost and speed up handling offreight, the present invention provides loading-unloading conveyorbooms. Each boom has an endless belt to carry articles in one directionor the other thereon. The booms are pivotally mounted at one end so theymay be tilted about a pivot axis. A short-wedge shaped ramp is connectedon a pivot axis to the outer end of each boom. The ramp has mobilefingers which are interspersed with stationary fingers so that as themobile fingers orbit, the mobile fingers rise above, and sink below, thetop of the stationary fingers. The mobile fingers move the cargo inincremental steps in either direction. When an inbound truck arrives, anoperator controls the conveyor and ramp to scoop articles onto the ramp.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of theconveyor and ramp of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of a platform cart to support aconveyor; v

FIG. 3 is a view taken on the lines 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view taken on the lines 4--4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the boom conveyor ramp, showing the rampextended for operation in solid lines and showing the ramp folded backin dotted lines;

FIG. 6 is a view taken as the view of FIG. 5, showing the use ofremovable tines in place of the ramp;

FIG. 7 is a view in perspective of the ramp;

FIG. 8 is a view taken on the lines 8-8 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a top view of the operators control box;

FIG. 10 is a view taken on the line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Leading to eachloading-unloading station of a truck terminal 19 is a loading/unloadingarm, as shown best in FIG. 1. In the preferred form of the invention,the loading-unloading arm 23 consists of four major parts: a fixedlength conveyor boom 24, a ramp 25, a motorized cart 26, and a platform27. The fixed length conveyor boom 24, which has an endless belt 24a(FIG. 7) to carry articles in one direction or the other thereon, ispivotally mounted at one end to a standard 28 so that it may be tiltedup or down about pivot axis 29. The conveyor boom 24 is slidablyattached to sup porting structure 30 (see FIGS. 4, 5 and 6) which ismounted on carriage 26. The supporting structure 30 has two guidecylinders 31 into each of which a guide plunger 32 is slidably received.The guide plungers 32 are connected by a cross bar 33 which is raisedand lowered by a pneumatic ram 34. The guide plungers 32 have rollers 35connected thereto which are received in the track 36 of the conveyorboom. Actuation of the ram in one direction will raise the outer end ofthe arm 23 and actuation of the ram in the opposite direction will lowerthe outer end of the arm.

The cart 26 has wheels 40, one of which is driven by reversible motor 41in one direction or the other to move. the platform 27 in or out,depending on the direction of drive of the motor. The platform 27 issupported by air bearings or cushions 42 (such as Cell No. Sl-4266manufactured by Airfloat of Decatur, Illinois). The air bearings orcushions 42 are supplied with air under pressure by air line 43.

The truck trailer 22 is supported by the platform 27 which has anelevated end 27a for the operator to stand on during loading orunloading of the trailer. Connected to the platform under the elevatedend 27a are two racks 44 and 45 which are engaged by pinions 46 mountedon cart 26. The pinions 46 are driven by motor 47 which is connected bydrive chain 48 to a drive pinion 49 on a shaft 50. A second drive chain51 connects all the pinions 46, which are mounted on shafts 50 journaledat each corner of the cart. It will be noted that drive chain 51 iscrossed so that two of the pinions 46 are driven clockwise and twodriven counterclockwise. Thus, the pinions, two of which engage the rackon one side and two of which engage the rack on the opposite side, shiftthe platform laterally in one direction or the other when the motor 47is driven in one direction or the other.

A short wedge-shaped ramp 25, as shown best in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, isconnected on pivot axis H to the outer end of the conveyor boom 24. Apower ram 52 has a cylinder 53 pivotally connected at one end toconveyor 24. The piston rod 54 of the ram is pivotally connected to ramp25 below the pivot axis H thereof so that when the ram is extended theramp is'raised. As the ramp swings up and rod 54 crosses the pivot axis,

ram 52 may be retracted to swing the ramp into a raised inoperableposition, shown in dotted lines in FIG. 5. The ramp 25 uses a walkingbeam principle for conveying objects on its upper surface. The walkingbeam principle used by the ramp calls for a set of mobile wedge-shapedfingers 55 which are raised and lowered by circular cams 56. The cams 56are eccentrically secured on shafts 57 and 58 which are journaled infixed fingers 63. The cams 56 are rotatably received in circular holes55a in the mobile fingers 55. As shown in FIG. 7, shafts 57 and 58receive sprockets 59 thereon. Reversible motor 60 has a drive sprocket61 which is connected by chain 62 to sprockets 59 to rotate shafts 57,58. The mobile fingers 55 are interspersed with the stationary fingers63 so that as the mobile fingers orbit about shafts 57, 58, the mobilefingers rise above, and sink below, the top of the stationary fingers.When motor 60 is driven in one direction, the mobile fingers 55 move inone direction when above the stationary fingers to move the cargo inthat direction. As the orbiting fingers change direction, they dropbelow the stationary fingers on which the cargo is deposited. As theorbiting fingers again rise above the stationary fingers, they againadvance the cargo another incremental distance in the same direction.When the motor 60 is driven in the reverse direction, the mobile fingers55 will move in the opposite direction when above the stationary fingers56 to move the cargo in incremental steps in the opposite direction.

When the ramp 25 is folded back as shown in FIG. 6, removable tines 70may be mounted on the ramp. The hooked inner end 71 of the tines fitsinto a notch 72 in the ramp. A threaded clamp member 73 received in thetines screws down on the ramp to clamp the tines to the wedge.

The controls for loading-unloading arms 23 consist ofa set of sixswitches 75, 76, 77, 78, 79 and 80 held in a small housing 81 that isattached to the belt of the operator. An extendable cord 82 connects thecontrol housing to the load unload arm. Each switch has three positions:the upright, or central, position (in which the switches are shown inFIG. 9) where the switch is OFF, and the extreme position in eitherdirection from the stop position where the switch activates theforwardreverse or up-down motions of the arm 23, platform 27, and/orramp 25. One switch 75 controls the stop, or forward or reverse, motionsof the motor 41 that powers the motorized cart 26 to move the platformsin or out. A second switch 76 controls the motor 47 that powers thesideways motion of the platforms. When these switches are on, air issimultaneously supplied to the platform air bearings 42. A third switch77 controls the ram 34 that lifts or lowers the boom-conveyor. A fourthswitch 78 controls the power ram 53 that tilts the ramp up or down. Afifth switch 79 controls the motor 60 which causes oscillation of theramp conveying fingers 55. The sixth switch 80 controls the motor (notshown) which drives the belt 24a on the boomconveyor. For safetyreasons, an emergency stop button 83 may also be incorporated in thecontrol housing.

When an inbound trailer 22 or truck arrives and is parked on a platform27, an operator manipulates controls for the loading-unloading arms 23to scoop articles onto the ramp 25 or position the ramp so that articlesmay be manually slid or placed on it. To pick up a specific article inthe trailer, the platform 27 can be shifted laterally to align thearticle with the ramp 25, and the boom 24 and ramp 25 can be verticallyadjusted to position the ramp in front of the article and on the floorof the trailer. The platform 27 can then be advanced to bring thearticle to a position where the ramp fingers 55 will move the article upthe ramp and onto the conveyor belt.

Although the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention has been herein shown and described, it will be apparent thatmodification and variation may be made without departing from what isregarded to be the subject matter of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A load-unload arm for loading and unloading a vehicle comprising aconveyor pivotal about one end, a ramp pivotally connected to theopposite end of the conveyor, said ramp being wedge-shaped andhavingmobile fingers to advance a load thereon, power means to effect lateraland longitudinal movement between the conveyor and the vehicle, powermeans to pivot the conveyor about said one end, power means to swing theramp about said opposite end of the conveyor, and power means to movesaid ramp fingers.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including mechanism to control the operationof at least some of said power means, said control mechanism remote fromthe units controlled.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said control mechanism is assembledon a single unit for simultaneous access by an operator.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which said single unit is portable by theoperator.

5. Mechanism for loading and unloading a vehicle comprising an elongatedconveyor, a ramp mounted on the end of said conveyor, said ramp beingwedgeshaped and having mobile fingers to move a load thereon, powermeans to effect relative movement between the ramp end of the conveyorand the vehicle, and control mechanism to control the movement betweenthe ramp end of the conveyor and the vehicle, said control mechanismremote from said power means for convenient access by an operator.

6. The mechanism of claim 5 in which said elongated conveyor is pivotalabout one end.

7. The mechanism of claim 5 in which said ramp is pivotal about said oneend of the conveyor.

8. Apparatus for loading and unloading a freight'container comprising anelongated conveyor, means on said elongated conveyor to move articlesthereon in one direction or the other, a wedge-shaped ramp conveyorpivotally connected at one end to one end of said elongated conveyor,said ramp conveyor terminating in a point at the opposite end, means onsaid wedgeshaped ramp conveyor for moving articles thereon in onedirection or the other, means to pivot said ramp conveyor with respectto said elongated conveyor, and means to effect relative longitudinalmovement between the pointed end of said wedge-shaped ramp conveyor andthe freight container.

9. Apparatus for loading and unloading a freight container comprising anelongated conveyor, means on said elongated conveyor to move articlesthereon in one direction or the other, a wedge-shaped ramp conveyorpivotally connected at one end to one end of said elongated conveyor,said ramp conveyor terminating in a point at the opposite end, means onsaid wedgeshaped ramp conveyor for moving articles thereon in onedirection or the other, means to pivot said ramp conveyor with respectto said elongated conveyor, and means to effect relative lateralmovement between the pointed end of said wedge-shaped ramp conveyor andthe freight container.

1. A load-unload arm for loading and unloading a vehicle comprising aconveyor pivotal about one end, a ramp pivotally connected to theopposite end of the conveyor, said ramp being wedge-shaped and havingmobile fingers to advance a load thereon, power means to effect lateraland longitudinal movement between the conveyor and the vehicle, powermeans to pivot the conveyor about said one end, power means to swing theramp about said opposite end of the conveyor, and power means to movesaid ramp fingers.
 1. A load-unload arm for loading and unloading avehicle comprising a conveyor pivotal about one end, a ramp pivotallyconnected to the opposite end of the conveyor, said ramp beingwedge-shaped and having mobile fingers to advance a load thereon, powermeans to effect lateral and longitudinal movement between the conveyorand the vehicle, power means to pivot the conveyor about said one end,power means to swing the ramp about said opposite end of the conveyor,and power means to move said ramp fingers.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1including mechanism to control the operation of at least some of saidpower means, said control mechanism remote from the units controlled. 3.The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said control mechanism is assembled ona single unit for simultaneous access by an operator.
 4. The apparatusof claim 3 in which said single unit is portable by the operator. 5.Mechanism for loading and unloading a vehicle comprising an elongatedconveyor, a ramp mounted on the end of said conveyor, said ramp beingwedge-shaped and having mobile fingers to move a load thereon, powermeans to effect relative movement between the ramp end of the conveyorand the vehicle, and control mechanism to control the movement betweenthe ramp end of the conveyor and the vehicle, said control mechanismremote from said power means for convenient access by an operator. 6.The mechanism of claim 5 in which said elongated conveyor is pivotalabout one end.
 7. The mechanism of claim 5 in which said ramp is pivotalabout said one end of the conveyor.
 8. Apparatus for loading andunloading a freight container comprising an elongated conveyor, means onsaid elongated conveyor to move articles thereon in one direction or theother, a wedge-shaped ramp conveyor pivotally connected at one end toone end of said elongated conveyor, said ramp conveyor terminating in apoint at the opposite end, means on said wedge-shaped ramp conveyor formoving articles thereon in one direction or the other, means to pivotsaid ramp conveyor with respect to said elongated conveyor, and means toeffect relative longitudinal movement between the pointed end of saidwedge-shaped ramp conveyor and the freight container.